"Former Canadian Minister Of Defence Asks Canadian Parliament Asked To Hold Hearings On Relations With Alien "Et" Civilizations"

They fucked up the article's title. That's a bad sign.posted by mullingitover at 3:24 PM on November 25, 2005

Mr. Hellyer went on to say, "I'm so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something."

And we Canucks were doing so well with the gay marriage, the pot laws, and the staying-out-of-Iraq....posted by Robot Johnny at 3:35 PM on November 25, 2005

Oh dear. I like the idea from a theoretical / readiness standpoint as an interesting excersize in new ways of diplomatic thinking or whatever, but the excerpted parts of the speech look really crackpot-like.posted by Firas at 3:40 PM on November 25, 2005 [1 favorite]

He was a minister in the 60s guys, my guess is that he was unemployed and doing hard drugs in the 70s, and well, here he is today.posted by tiamat at 3:43 PM on November 25, 2005

.... i was just about to post this. one of the links I was gonna use.posted by trinarian at 3:44 PM on November 25, 2005

We should start diplomatic relations with Heaven, too-- just in case. Incurring God's wrath and that of all his winged minions would really, really suck. Problem is, how are politicians to know which extraterrestrial group we'll encounter first?posted by mowglisambo at 3:44 PM on November 25, 2005

Hellyer is totally, 100% not involved in any form of Canadian government. He's been nuts for a long long time, and has written nutty nutty books and started nutty nutty political movements. Nothing he says should in any way be given any notice because of his past status in government. He makes me soooo mad.

Also, the news release is from PRweb, so you know what that means.posted by loquax at 3:51 PM on November 25, 2005

Metafilter: I'm NOT so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say somethingposted by blue_beetle at 3:58 PM on November 25, 2005

I'm quite tickled that an actual former government minister used the words "Intergalactic war" seriously.posted by blue_beetle at 3:59 PM on November 25, 2005

But what about the Sylphs?posted by empath at 4:23 PM on November 25, 2005

This Canada. Is it a planet to the north of the USA star system?posted by stirfry at 4:59 PM on November 25, 2005

The New Yorker has a good feature article this week on the history of "Invasion literature", starting in the 1870s. Invasions of aliens are just metaphors for the more real fear of ones earthly neighbors. Canadas fear of invasion, and a diplomatic response instead of a military one, must run deep in its national psyche.posted by stbalbach at 5:03 PM on November 25, 2005

Those Canucks are just so effin wacky...oh wait.posted by sharpener at 5:35 PM on November 25, 2005

He makes me soooo mad.

How come? I think he's hilarious! Every country has their lunatics, why can't we have a few too? At least he seems completely harmless, it's not like he's the president prime minister.posted by zarah at 5:47 PM on November 25, 2005

By “ETs,” Mr. Hellyer and these organizations mean ethical, advanced extraterrestrial civilizations that may now be visiting Earth.

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